Yann Ehrlacher takes the positives from Monza despite penalty

Yann Ehrlacher put on a strong performance in the opening race at Monza to cross the line sixth, before he was hit with a ten-second time penalty for exceeding track limits at the start of the race.

The Frenchman had swerved to the inside at the start as the queue ahead of him on the right side of the circuit had a slow getaway, and with Tom Coronel having stalled from pole on the left, there was some congestion ahead.

With Ehrlacher having been eliminated at the start of his first race in Morocco when he clipped the rear of the stalled Citroën of John Filippi, the RC Motorsport Lada driver explained that was a key factor in his manoeuvre.

“At the start, when the red lights turned off, the marshals put out double yellows as someone had stalled on the grid,” said Ehrlacher to TouringCarTimes. “So I just crossed the white line to be sure that I didn’t hit the guy in front so the same thing didn’t happen as in Marrakech, in case someone had stalled on my line.

“(But the officials) say it’s still track limits, they don’t care if I did it for safety.”

Ehrlacher was classified in 11th in Race 1, while he picked up his first WTCC points in Race 2, finishing ninth.

“To go from 12th to sixth was a good result, which is what I’m keeping in mind. Our pace was good, fighting with guys like (Nicky) Catsburg and (Tom) Coronel and guys like this,” he said.

“I’m not too worried about the points. I’m not going to be World Champion at the end of the year; I just need to learn and prove to other manufacturers that I’m capable to join them.”